Walkers are Welcome Towns by Name

Dunster

Accredited since: 2007

Dunster is one of England’s best preserved medieval villages with it’s cobbled streets and historic buildings including Dunster Castle. There are many miles of waymarked footpaths well maintained by Exmoor National Park and the National Trust. The terrain encompasses woodland, forestry, coastal, farmland and open moorland. The most popular walk visits an ancient hill fort “Bats Castle” and Gallox hill and herds of Exmoor ponies and red deer can be seen.

The village is close to several long distance trails, the Macmillan Way West passes through the village and the South West Coast Path and Coleridge Way are nearby.

Dunster has good transport links with a regular bus service from Taunton (the regional transport hub) every 30 minutes on weekdays.

At the entrance to the village is a large pay and display car park with long stay parking, and on the road in the village are free unlimited car parking spaces.

Dunster has an Exmoor National Park Centre with a large choice of maps and walk leaflets.

Rohan has its largest UK outlet in the village specialising in technical outdoor clothing.

Local shops and businesses have been encouraged to display the Walkers are Welcome logo at their entrances.

Passengers on the West Somerset Steam Railway can alight at Dunster station and take a short 20 minute walk to the main village. Alternatively take the short walk to the coast where starting from Dunster beach is the “Steam Coast Trail” a popular trail for walkers and cyclists along the coast next to the West Somerset Railway line linking Dunster beach with the seaside resort of Blue Anchor. Most of the length of the trail’s surface has been tarmaced and is suitable for wheelchair users and buggies.

Guided Walks:- A South West Coast Path residential walking holiday is on offer every year around Easter at a village hotel. There is currently one scheduled for October 2020 which is a postponement of the April 2020 dates. Regular shorter guided walks are also offered during the year.

There are quarterly guided 5 mile walks from the Yarn Market Hotel, usually on a Friday, in conjunction with the Exmoor Walking Holidays meetings in Dunster. These usually start at 1.00 pm and finishing with a cup of tea in the village. For enquiries contact Exmoor Walking Holidays at the Yarn Market Hotel on 01643 821425.

The West Somerset branch of the Ramblers have regular walks featuring Dunster, as does the Exmoor Society and Exmoor National Park, these are all run by knowledgeable volunteers.

West Somerset Health Walks give less able walkers the opportunity to do gentler walks varying between 45 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes.